Rāzī’s Perspective on Intellect and its Role in his Scientific Worldview

Muhammad b. Zakariyā Rāzī is one of the eminent figures in history of science during Islamic period, who has been recognized in the works of modern researchers as possessing anti-Aristotelian attitude and an experimental method in such sciences as medicine and alchemy. Someother researchers have praised Rāzī’s scientific method and considered him as equal to the contemporary scientists. However, the issue less dealt with is the relation between his intellectual approach and experimental inclination; in other words, how the “intellect” and “experiment” have been combined in such a person as Rāzī and what the relation between the two is like. Upon a comprehensive study of Rāzī’s views on “intellect” and “experiment”, the present research has concluded that Rāzī’s intellectual difference and his distinguished scientific method as compared to other scientists of his time, especially the peripatetic philosophers originates from his different definition of human intellect and determining its status in human life. In other words, Rāzī’s reliance on experiment is not only consistent with his intellectual inclination, but this idea of his is rooted in his emphasis on the role of intellect and all humans’ equal share in it. The components of his intellectual world are also explainable in consideration of his definition of intellect, a definition that forms thenature of his scientific worldview.